The Maine Adventure

So we are on a new adventure that consists of moose, light houses, snow, and lobster. Yes we have moved to Maine.  Keith is the new Manager of the Moosehorn National Wildlife in Baring, Maine. It has been a place he has always had on his bucket list. So this is our new adventure! We have been here for almost 4 months. But we are finally settling into our new home. We spent the first months in the bunkhouse at the refuge with no Internet. Our connection to internet depended on driving to town and buying a hot chocolate or ice cream at McDonald's so we could use their free internet, So blogging was not on my top things to do in my hour of "not so Free Internet". We bought our beautiful new house in November and rushed to unpack enough for homeschooling, Isaiah's birthday, Thanksgiving and a visit from my parents. We still have boxes everywhere because I went straight from unloading boxes to decorating for Christmas. I will unpack in January. Sounds like a good New Years resolution! At the moment we are busy trying to get the garage cleared so we can park the two cars in it before we get dumped with snow.

Here is a picture of our house during the Fall Months.

  

We are absolutely loving it here!  We got to catch the tail end of summer. We enjoyed the amazing colors of Fall and now look forward to snow.... though my blood has grown thin since leaving Alaska. I forgot how cold snow was! We have explored as much as we could before cold weather shuts down most tourist attractions. We find it fun that we can just cross the border to Canada just to go eat lunch. Zambian borders never went that fast! We are enjoying the rocky coast, whales, fresh scallops and lobster(at least I am, due to keith being allergic to lobster) whoppie pies, and learning Poutine and gravy are a major things here! We have checked out rocky coast, 25 feet tide changes and lots of light houses.

Behind us here is the reversing Falls. Pretty cool that a place can have water falls no matter if the tide is coming in or going out...

Our friend and pastor Jimmy from North Carolina was having a work conference in Portland and we couldn't let him come to Maine with out us seeing him so we went for a night in Portland and got to explore a bit with him when he was here.

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Keith is loving his job, has a great staff and we love visiting his office.  While living at the bunkhouse, we explored the trails around the office and have fallen in love with the hills, rivers, lakes and streams. The refuge was established for migratory birds and woodcock. Come see us we'll show you around. 

We got to experience our first Fall up here and the colors were simply amazing! God sure knows how to paint a landscape! Fall has become my favorite time of the year. So many different colors.  I have never experienced one like it! I'll let you know how winter goes. 

My mom and dad came for a quick visit but we packed as much as we could in to the 10 days they were here. We even put them to work helping us stack wood, hang a bison and move furniture up and  down stairs, hunting for Christmas trees and unpacking boxes. The boys enjoyed the surprise when we went to pick up a "present". lots of playing happened.

Picking out a Christmas tree

Found it!

The boys were determined that they were big enough to carry it to the car

I love putting all our home made ornaments on real trees. This one went in the Dining room. As we almost have a tree in each room. Next year I will be more organized.... I hope

We took Mom and Dad down to Lubec and across to Campabello Island. It was a cold, windy day but it was beautiful!

Quoddy Head Lighthouse

Lobster Pot Christmas Trees.... Because why wouldn't you?

Welcome to Maine Ramos family.... We are so glad to be here and ready for the new adventure. I promise to keep this one updated! =)

Goodbye North Carolina

Two years! Two years was not, in my opinion, long enough spent in this beautiful state! But we are on the move again to a new adventure, which I will blog about next. Keith and I LOVED North Carolina and moving has been hard! We have learned so much and have felt like part of the community here! Thank you friends! As we leave, Keith and I were talking about the things NC has taught us. Here are some of the things we have learned in the two years living here.

- Hyde County has the FRIENDLIEST people I have ever met! From day one we were welcomed just like family! People know your name, leave veggies on your front door, bring stews over when your sick, watch you kids when you need a break, help wash dishes when they drop over for a visit or sweep your floor if it needs it, they are just neighborly. Which is what this world needs more of!

- Farming is a FAITH based job! Farmer pray for the right timing of planting, The right time for rain, the right time for sunshine, dry fields for harvest, good prices for crops, and insurance when it fails! I have never met more hard working men and women!nor have I met more giving! Many meals we had were given to us from farmers. Fresh sweet potatoes, cabbages, onions, green beans, corn, potatoes, squash, watermelon, cantaloupe, pumpkins, so much grown and given. You definitely won't starve in Hyde county!

- To go along with the above, you can tell the season by what type of tractors you get stuck behind on the highway! :) if I knew the names I would quote them but I don't! But you can ask any kid in Hyde County and they would be able to name all the equipment. And most of them can drive them too! You might have trouble finding parking space at the baseball games if all the parents arrive in their tractors, because after the game they are back out to work their farms. Dedication and faith, I'm telling you!

- Ms. Hilda, at Outta the Box (or Becks by locals)makes the BEST fried chicken in the world!! And
trust me I've lived around the world! Nothing comes close to hers!

- If you go to any social event and Alison Potter has provided any of the foods, TRY them! Everything she makes is delicious! Her canned foods are amazing too! Try her pickled figs, they are like Christmas in a jar, or her cinnamon cucumbers.... Yes try them, I thought they were candied apples! Yum!

-Though they have great country food everyday, Martell's Feedhouse, is the place to go Friday's for their ribs and shrimp! Don't miss it and go early!

- it is normal to meet someone that is related to someone else in Hyde county! Gibbs, Swindell, Spencer, Carawan, Cahoon. And just because they have the same last name doesn't mean they are actually related! It would be cool to do a giant family tree to see how everyone is related.

There are so many more things we learned in the short two years we were there. We will miss it! The friends and family we made. I will miss the sound of 300,000 swans, geese and ducks calling in the winter! We will miss our church. Hyde county we will miss you! But we will be back! On to a new adventure back in the snow country.....